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Never ask this guy to help make margaritas.

Well after the worst weekend of my life, I've finally turned the corner. Holy hell that was awful.

1 to 2 % of root canal retreats have whats called a "flare up" and it is just damn killer.

Had a root canal done on one of my bottom molars about 11 years ago, They sealed it up and put a crown on it and it was fine.
About 6 months ago, the same molar on the opposite side needed a root canal. When the doctor was doing that tooth, he "discovered" that the molar had 4 roots... cleaned them all up and sealed it up and sent me on my way. He said that it didn't show up in the XRays.

About 3 weeks ago, the tooth that they had done the root canal on years ago started flaring up... got pretty damn painful.

Long story short.... the tooth that they did 11 years ago, apparently, also had a 4th root that wasn't "taken care of"
Get to go in for another root canal on that tooth tomorrow.

Yep, been there. Its the main reason I don't do root canals anymore. I don't have a CT machine where I can know exactly how many canals there are.

Plus I'm slow at them so I just let the specialists handle it.

I had the same dentists for 25 years since I was a teenager. He was an old school kind of guy. He was like the trusted mechanic who would say things like "you don't need to replace that part now it will go 10,000 more miles". I didn't know how basic he was until I moved to a new area and went to a new dentist.

The new dentist is like taking your car to the dealership. My mouth is goldmine to them. Their recommending Invisalign so I can have some chipped teeth fillings redone even though my last dentist did repair the same teeth without Invisalign. I'm not wearing a retainer to bed the rest of my life when my teeth are practically perfectly straight except one bottom tooth is slightly off. My last dentist fixed all my slightly chipped teeth (3 teeth) for $450 8 years ago and this new dentists wants $660 per tooth. My insurance will probably cover most but wow what a price difference.

I think I might go try another dentists in this area that won't try to upsell me on everything. Maybe, this new dentist office has a big school loan to repay lol.

O.city from reading your post you sound like my old dentists and will probably have high patient retention. Maybe, I'll drive the 6 hours just to see my old dentist.

Investigate the number of years a dentist practices before retiring.

My wife lived in a very small town in Missouri when we met. A visit to the town dentist at that time was about the same price as a hair cut.

I'm not a "salesmen" like some dentists. IMO, it's bullshit to upsell and treat shit that doesn't need treating.

I'm just a small town type guy. If it ain't broke don't fix it. It's my job to tell you "hey, this tooth has a crack in it. It will probably be ok, it may not be long term so just keep it in your mind at some point we may have to do something" or something similar.

I don't do the whole "smile rejuvenation" thing unless a patient wants to and most of the time I try to talk them out of big overhaul procedures.

O.City- I got a little bit of gingivitis I believe, just looking at some at-home solutions to add to the dental routine and I'm seeing salt water rinse or lemongrass water rinse... any input on what I can do from home to help?

Will schedule an appointment with my dentist promptly also- appreciate any advice.

Nah, just spend a little more time brushing.

What's going on symptomatically?

It's just one spot above my right front tooth where it is a little bit darker red than the rest of my gums. No pain or any other symptoms, bleeds a little during brushing at times.

So what are the best toothpastes and brushes? I've been using Paradontax and an Arm & Hammer Spinbrush. Good? No good?

Honestly in my opinion, whatever you’ll use. We’re Procter and gamble at the office so crest but I don’t think there’s much difference